The present invention relates generally to fuel cell systems and particularly, to a fuel cell system having a set of heat exchangers with integrated electric generating devices to convert a portion of the thermal energy flowing through each heat exchanger to electric energy. The present invention may be used in small-scale, highly integrated fuel cell systems, such as those used in automobiles or homes.
Fuel cells convert fuel directly into energy through a chemical reaction, which extract more power out of the same quantity of fuel when compared to traditional combustion. In either a pure-hydrogen or a fuel reformer-based fuel cell system, there is a significant quantity of thermal energy (heat) exchanged between process fluids and ambient air. Further efficiency can be achieved in such fuel cell systems if the surplus heat produced by the system is utilized. Accordingly, there is a continued need to achieve higher overall system efficiencies in small-scale, highly integrated fuel cell systems.